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Frank: To Cut Deficit, Cut Military Spending

BOSTON — With the stock market still feeling the aftershocks of last week’s S&P downgrade, Congressman Barney Frank says it’s time to, quote “stop being the world’s policeman” if it wants to stabilize the economy. Frank is calling for substantial cuts in military spending.

"If we were to complete the withdrawal from Iraq by the end of this year, phase down Afghanistan and be out by the end of next year… and tell Western Europe and Japan and a few others that we will no longer subsidize them, we could save more than $200 billion a year," Frank said.

That, Frank says, will free up American resources for important domestic priorities. "And the importance of that is we need to get a longer term debt-reduction plan in place so we can then free ourselves up to spend a little money in the short term to put people back to work," Franks said.

He said military overspending has been a bipartisan mistake that needs a bipartisan response.